Abstract
The influence of climate on the radial growth of 63 mature stands (1879 trees) growing under different climatic and soil conditions was investigated using chronologies developped from the French Network RENECOFOR. The relationships between climate and ring widths were analyzed using extreme growth years and response functions analysis (1949-1994). The study was led on 15 beech stands (450 trees), 11 sessile oak stands (324), 4 pedunculate oak stands (119), 11 silver fir stands (328), 8 Norway spruce stands (239) and 14 Scots pine stands (419). Both approaches highlighted the major role of winter temperatures and water balance on radial growth. For Silver fir, Norway spruce and oaks, prior autumn weather conditions (through temperature and water balance) and winter temperatures (February and April) influence earlywood growth whereas summer water balance influences latewood enhancement. On the other hand, the growth of both ring components for beech and Scots pine depends mainly on current summer water balance. For all the studied species, the importance of the water balance increases with increasing local water stress : maximal soil water content (SWC) < 100 mm for beech, altitude < 800 and/or SfVC < 100 mm for Silver fir, oceanic climate with low annual precipitations (about 700 mm) for Scots pine and oaks.
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